West Surf Story

Twenty yards from safety, the Zebra shark caught him.

"Stop, Elroy," Zeb said. "If you cross that line into the deep, you will not graduate next month. That is if you don't become someone's lunch first.

Elroy turned around and faced Zeb, his black and white striped Principal of the School of Sharks.

"The Great White Shoalsters were spotted in the area three times in the past week. You are aware they prefer young tender Scalloped Hammerhead shark pups like yourself," Zeb said. "They say you taste like chicken-fish."

Elroy followed him toward the protection of the reef and the shallows that provided safety for the school. The school trained young sharks on survival until they were of age to navigate the deeps.

"I'm almost two meters long now and can handle myself, Zeb. I'm tired of eating the mashed sardines, shrimp casserole, and Squid tartar. I want to catch a Stingray and prove I'm ready," Elroy said.

"I run this School for Young Sharks and I'm not going be stripped of my stripes because a hammer-headed young-in skips school before his time. Got it?" Zeb said.

"Yes sir," Elroy said.

They crossed over the coral reef into the safety of the schoolyard under the watchful eyes of his peers.

"He's such a lunkhead," a young Nurse shark said.

"I think he's cute," a female Hammerhead said. "I'd go out with him."

"I think he's arrogant and antisocial," said a young Puffer shark, "he doesn't even notice me."

The shadow of a Clangor passed overhead. They scrambled for cover under a ledge. The slick droplets that rained from its dorsal fin would irritate their skin.

"Dang, I just took a sand-bath yesterday," said the Puffer."

"They sure are noisy too," said the female Hammerhead.

"And they stink," said the Nurse shark and coughed.

Elroy drifted into his reef alcove.

"Ha, ha, ha, you let Ole man Zeb catch you again," said Leopold the Leopard Shark, "Did you see Angela when you hit the deep? That Angel shark never gets caught sneaking out."

"No," Elroy said.

"How about those hot sharkies in the yard, did they ask about me?" he said.

"No, Leo, they didn't; I thought you had the hots for Angela?" Elroy said.

"I do. A fine-looking hound-dog shark, like myself, has to leave options open," Leo said.

The tides shifted as the Globe of Night, GON, illuminated the fluorescents in the water. Elroy spotted a Stingray flying below the surface and launched into pursuit.

"No sardines for me tonight; I'm eating a Stingray filet," he said.

Elroy slipped through a narrow gap in the reef while Zeb admonished some younger sharks. He trailed the Stingray until it sensed his presence. The water flyer dove for a sunken Clangor banked left and slipped into the wreck before Elroy had a chance to pin it with his hammer-shaped head.

"One GON's until graduation and I still haven't caught my first Ray." Elroy said to his prey hidden in the wreck.

"Bugger off mate," said the Ray.

A guttural voice echoed off the Clangor, and Elroy drifted to listen. The voice came from the other side of the wreck, and he swam slow to the corner to listen.

"Lieutenant, it's time we drove the Clangors out of the ocean, once and for all," a giant White Shoalster said.

"But General Gash, you know the Council of Orcas forbid it. You have the scar down your belly to remind you," said the Lieutenant.

Elroy could see the long ugly scar that ran the entire length of the General's underbelly.

"I'm not afraid. I'm smarter and much bigger now," Gash said. "Send these orders. In three days, the Flounderers will school, by the thousands, in the shallows like they do every year, and we will slaughter them all. They will fear to enter our world ever again," Gash said to a Corporal.

"That will be glorious," said the Corporal.

"We are two-hundred Great White's strong plus twelve Tigers," said the Lieutenant, "Shoalster Army arise."

"Thank you Lieutenant," said the General.

Elroy overlooked the Octopus that blended with the ocean floor below him. The mollusk, under threat, squirted a burst of ink, and the General whipped his head toward the cloud of dye. He spotted Elroy.

"We have a spy, and he's aware of our plans," he said. "Lieutenant, deliver the orders. We will rendezvous our shoal of sharks at the Dead Reef in three days. Corporal, with me, we have a spy to catch and maybe supper too."

Elroy darted away, and the two Great Whites closed the distance quickly.

The Shoalsters nor Elroy saw the Clangor web of death ahead.

"Ah, a scallophead, how did you know I was hungry," Gash said and opened his wide jaw to expose his rows of jagged teeth ready to consume Elroy.

Elroy thought his end had come until a familiar voice called out.

"Elroy, over here, turn and dive, now." Angela, the Angel shark, said.

Gash's teeth nipped at Elroy's tail as the young Hammerhead dove away from the gill web to the rocks below.

The Shoalster's speed catapulted them into the web though they tried to pull up to avoid it. Gash pushed off the Corporal and forced him into the gill trap. The General cleared the net vertically, breached the surface, and sailed through the air to the other side.

The Corporal hung, alongside sea turtles and a myriad of other sea life, in the web by his fins and couldn't move nor breathe.

Rocks shielded Angela and Elroy from view. She pushed water with her tail through Elroy's gills, so he took in oxygen while idle.

"Corporal, I'm sorry it had to be this way. Your death will not be in vain, son, the Clangor's and Flounderers will pay," Gash said, "Hammerhead, I know you're down there. I will hunt you down and shred you one fin at a time for this." He swam away as his loyal Shoalster drowned.

"Hey mon, move over, you’re blocking all the water," Leopold said.

Elroy circled and said, "What are you doing here? In fact, what are you both doing here?"

"Some thanks I get," said Angela.

"Well mate, Angela and I are on a date," Leopold said.

"Geez, how many accents are you going to use?" Elroy said.

"Pozo, tiburon leopardo are internacional, so whatever I choose Senor."

"So, you two are a thing now?" Elroy said.

"He just likes to stare at my dorsal fins," Angela said, "What are you doing out here, Elroy, being chased by monsters?

Elroy explained to them what he had overheard.

"I have to report this to the Council of Orcas," he said, "or the Shoalster army will slaughter the Flounderers in the surf."

"I agree, but that's a dangerous journey to the Banks," Angela said. "We are coming with you. You're such a lunkhead and need my stealth. Leo's hound-shark skills can warn us of danger ahead.

"I'm in dude, you can catch a ride with me anytime," Leopold said. "I've got your back bro."

"You've got the point hound-dog," Angela said.

The trio set out for the banks, an underwater island a day’s swim away. They saw the shadows of monstrous Clangors pass overhead and avoided the paths of hot oily rain they shed.

Halfway, Leopold scouted movement to their left. When they returned to their heading, the Shoalster Lieutenant blocked their way.

"My, oh my, dinnertime. A Leopard pate' appetizer, a Veal of Scallophead entree, followed by a tender Angel trifle' dessert, very nice."

Angela dove for the ocean floor while Elroy and Leopold darted right and left. The Lieutenant pursued Elroy, and his jaws missed their target numerous times due to the Hammerhead's agility. Elroy zigged and zagged around a canyon until exhausted. He made a wrong choice and became trapped in a dead-end alcove.

The Lieutenant loomed over him, bared his teeth, and closed in for the kill.

A massive whale shark plowed into the Lieutenant's gills, like a torpedo, and drove him into the deeps. Elroy passed out from a lack of oxygen due to idleness.

"Hey dude. Wake up, you've got to move man," his rescuer said as he pushed Elroy back and forth to move water through his gills.

"I've been saved from a Shoalster to be eaten by a Whale shark," Elroy said.

"Nah, I don't eat sharks, my momma says too much mercury is bad for you. I'm Wally," he said and farted a greenish squirt of putrid water. Elroy gagged.

"That's gross, are you trying to kill me?" Elroy said.

"Oops, sorry, I have a terrible stomach. Hey, you want to come home with me? We have fresh tuna tonight," Wally said and farted again.

Angela and Leopold approached.

"I told you if we followed the foul odor we'd find him," Leopold said, "only a whale shark farts like that."

Elroy explained to Wally why they were on a mission to save the Flounderers.

"You are in luck; my dad is aide-de-camp to the supreme leader of the council and tonight we eat tuna," Wally said you and jetted another green jet and smiled sheepishly.

"That is disgusting," Angela said.

The four arrived at the Bank, and Wally's father secured an audience with the Council of Orcas. Elroy testified to the Shoalster's plan, and the council made plans to intercede. They sent the trio back to school under a protective guard with a message for Zeb, the Principal.

Two days later, Elroy and his friends observed the Shoalster Army gathered at the Dead Reef, two hundred plus strong.

They could hear and sense the Flounderers flock into the shallows from the shore.

"This is going to be bad," said Elroy. "Where is the Council, they said they'd intervene."

The Shoalster army surged, like a tidal wave, in mass toward the Flounderers to begin the slaughter.

The Flounderers spotted the impending danger too late and panicked to get to the safety of the shore.

"Shoalsters arise, and take no prisoners," yelled General Gash.

"I swear Wally is close, I can smell him," Leopold said.

A line of black and white killer whales, one-hundred and fifty across, with a dozen Whale Sharks, swept in from the left with three hundred dolphins on their flanks.

The two powerful forces collided in the middle while the Flounderers watched helplessly.

The Surf Battle had begun. The furious onslaught churned the waters and left carnage in the sea the likes no one had ever seen.

A praetorian Orca seized General Gash by his tail and flipped him upside down until he drowned.

Shoalsters that survived were chased until they scattered into the deep.

The Flounderers had witnessed first-hand their salvation by the Orca Council's intercession.

****

Graduation day came, and Elroy swam across the reef and received his mark of completion. He was now free to do what he chose. Wally attended and controlled his digestive problem to the joy of all sharks present.

After the ceremony, Wally informed them he had a private message to deliver to Elroy, Leopold, and Angela.

"The Council is grateful for your bravery that led to the victory in the Surf War. The Flounderers witnessed our defense of their lives, and they have changed their ways. Clangors haven't shadowed over our shallows in a GON except some narrow passages to the deep. Our shoals, the key to our survival, are flourishing as in days of old. They want to honor you and recognize your talents," Wally said,

"You are invited to report to the Banks for duty in the newly created Shark Intelligence Service, S.I.S."

Elroy, distracted by a Stingray that soared overhead, excused himself and gave chase.

"What do you say?" yelled Wally as Elroy swam away.

The fine Stingray meal was his first catch.

Satisfied, Elroy knew that he was about to depart on the adventure of a lifetime with his friends Wally, Leopold, and Angela.